Jin-roh : The Wolf Brigade is a 1999 anime directed by Hiroyuki Okiura, based on Mamoru Oshii’s Kerberos saga manga. The film is a big favorite of mine because of the intense mood, amazingly animation ( so good many people mistake it for rotoscope animation ) and the haunting soundtrack by Hajime Mizoguchi.
I’ve been waiting hopefully for the exorbitant Japanese blu-ray to dip in price, which never did, so when the US edition was released recently I didn’t wait.
As you can see from the pictures above the package is a pretty bare-bones affair, but the significant upgrade in the image quality ( from dvd ) is more than worth it. You can buy it from Amazon here.
I thought I took this opportunity to share also the numerous books and resources on the amazing art behind this fantastic film –
Jin-roh Maniaxx Art Book
This is one of two Jin-roh art of books that have been released. Book review here.
Jinroh – Behind The Screen
The 2nd Jin-roh art book. There are some overlapping material between the two books, but both are excellent enough for me to recommend without reservations. Book review here.
Of Light And Darkness : Ogura Hiromasa BG Art Book
A few background plates from the film are featured in Ogura Hiromasa’s art book Of Light And Darkness, amongst many of his other amazing work. Book review here.
Jin-roh Storyboards – DVD boxset
Housed in the DVD boxset is I believe a complete volume of the storyboards used for the film. I got my copy autographed by the color designer on the film Nagisa Abe-san when we were both working at Sunrise many years back.
Jin-roh Storyboard Book
A proper publication of the storyboards came out in 2018. This is a bigger print version of what came with the dvd boxset I mentioned above. Read the book review here.
Jin-roh original cels – Suginami Animation Museum
To see these you’ll have to journey a little further to the Suginami Animation Museum in Tokyo, Japan, where a couple of the original cels used in the film are on display. More details here.
Folks who are keen to explore more of Okiura-san’s work will want to check out his art book for another of his animated films, A letter to Momo.
Jin-roh Blu-ray details :
– Language : Japanese, English Dubbed
– Runtime : 105 minutes
– Extras : trailers + Interviews
Buy From Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon Japan | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Amazon DE | Amazon ES
You might also be interested in these items :
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Jin-roh – The Wolf Brigade Storyboard Art Book Review
Wolf Children Storyboard Book Review
Anime Background Art Books Round Up ( Updated August 2023 )
Wolf Children Art Book Review Part I : Background Art
A Letter To Momo – Hiroyuki Okiura Art Book Review
February 23rd, 2015 at 4:49 pm
I noticed you didn’t highly recommend the jin-roh blu-ray. Is that because like most u.s animation blu-rays it’s practically devoid of extra content?
February 24th, 2015 at 12:21 am
Christopher – I didn’t mention it because I figured my words at the start of the post had the same message. 😛
As you mentioned often US releases of anime come with few extras but given the much affordable price compared to the Japanese blu-rays it is still a good deal. :]
June 17th, 2015 at 4:23 pm
Garbage cover art, also they botched the english audio. Don’t support DisoTack’s release.